Uday, Uday, Uday Gonna Pray For?
The Bell Curve may be the normal distribution, but isn't it surprising that Tom's blog could draw, simultaneously, two outlyers so far from the mass of consensus? I'm speaking of his commenters, which include (arguably, ha) the most polite and least polite persons in St. Blogdom. Interestingly, the presence of the former seemed to impact the style of the latter.
The thread in question draws much from the seemingly mundane question of whether to pray for Saddam's sons.
Mr D'Hippolto writes persuasively: The implication in your questions is "there but for the grace of God go I." That not only smacks of fatalism but of a kind of false humility that Catholicism has promoted to keep the faithful pliant and quiet through unnecessary guilt....Consider this as you pray your rosary, and don't criticize yourself for "not doing enough". That kind of self-doubt is the work of Satan, who wants that self-doubt to overwhelm your prayers.
St. Philip Neri's prayer was "Jesus, watch over me always, especially today, or I shall betray you like Judas."
Really St. Philip? Are saints guilty of pious exaggeration when they proclaim their unworthiness, or do they actually see themselves more accurately than we do ourselves?
It seems to me the trick is to incarnate the truth that without God I can do nothing without letting that devolve into my doing nothing except pray, i.e. letting God do the heavy lifting. On the other hand, too much confidence in self can lead to disunity and a lack of obedience. Americans, inculcated by democratic values and used to getting their own way, are expert at this.
The stark differences of the thread writers remind me of what Tom wrote about during the lead up to the Iraq war. To paraphrase, he suggested that perhaps in making up the Body of Christ it is necessary to have both pacifists and JWT's, and for the individual to attempt to become both is not what God desires.
But isn't it necessary that we strive towards the opposite pole? If St. Augustine was accused of being too hard on the sin of lust, was this not in part a reaction against his own battles? Is the Golden Mean to be achieved by individuals or by the Body of Christ composite? Or is that "nuny'all" - none of my business, but God's?
Keepers
KTC writes,
Since when does "prayer" consist of setting aside a block of time to sit down with a list of names, then composing words to say on their behalf?
That's not the ONLY way to pray, O esteemed Dominican! John of the Cross says that a simple thought (not necessarily even a clarified one) to heaven about someone is a form of prayer. John goes on to say, the Holy Spirit does not lie. If you've got a special love, intensity, or "burden" on your heart for something or someone, it's put there by the Lord.
On the other hand, if someone makes a request of you to pray and you are indifferent, just offer up a brief prayer on the spot and be done with it. You need feel no condemnation for not praying every day for that need.
The Lord, in short, puts each of us into a different sphere of influence.
*
It just seems odd that our knowledge of the past proscribes God's ability to have acted in the past based on our prayers in the present. And how dare we presume to watch television when there are unprayed-for souls who died in the Tartar invasions? To me, it simply sounds like a soft-hearted theory unsupported by historical Catholic witness.
The question of whether a notoriously evil non-Christian halfway around the world needs my prayers even more than my wife does is kind of interesting. Granting his objective need is greater, that he requires "more" grace to be saved, does it follow in justice that I must pray for him more than, or before, I pray for my wife? I don't think so, for much the same reason that I don't think I have to make sure no one in the world is starving before I feed my wife.-Tom
July 24, 2003
July 23, 2003
Summer of '03
Bone, having more time on his hands these days, is now a regular reader of ye olde blog so I gotta keep the Protestant gibes to a minimum. Maybe just to tease him I'll link a Chesterton quote from a fellow Bellocphiliac. Bad, Tom bad!
(There is not one Google hit on 'Bellocphiliac'. Western civilization is in a steep decline if I have to coin that term.)
Anyway, here is the news from Lake Woebegon (literally, 'woe be gone'!):
Bone's wife: "I've never seen you so happy....how will you come down from this if the screenplay doesn't sell?"
Bone replies, "The saying goes 'we'll always have Paris', well we'll always have the summer of 2003".
His agent is positively giddy because another producer is interesting in reading his script. You have to admit, he's getting a heckuva ride out of this thing. If my mantra in the past was "I just want to be onto something", Bone is certainly on to something. He added a cameo appearance for us in the screenplay and he's going to insist the studio allow us to act as extras. The latte better be there an hour before shooting and I'll need a body double for any nude scenes - I haven't been running enough lately. Been pavin' too many patios!
His agent finally read his screenplay and wrote "The first act, about 35 pages, is hilarious, in fact, I'd have to say outstanding. Good work..." He goes on to suggest the rest needs some work but then ends with "Anyway, if this is what you had for me months ago, it would have led me to sign you. I believe it can be successfully toned and then presented to the trade."
Well that's about all the news that is fit to print. The late night golf outing apparently has squandered the good will engendered by my providing material for his second screenplay - his wife is hinting that any Dublin Irishfest activity in August is now verboten. Oh where's the humanity? Bad, Bone, bad!
Bone, having more time on his hands these days, is now a regular reader of ye olde blog so I gotta keep the Protestant gibes to a minimum. Maybe just to tease him I'll link a Chesterton quote from a fellow Bellocphiliac. Bad, Tom bad!
(There is not one Google hit on 'Bellocphiliac'. Western civilization is in a steep decline if I have to coin that term.)
Anyway, here is the news from Lake Woebegon (literally, 'woe be gone'!):
Bone's wife: "I've never seen you so happy....how will you come down from this if the screenplay doesn't sell?"
Bone replies, "The saying goes 'we'll always have Paris', well we'll always have the summer of 2003".
His agent is positively giddy because another producer is interesting in reading his script. You have to admit, he's getting a heckuva ride out of this thing. If my mantra in the past was "I just want to be onto something", Bone is certainly on to something. He added a cameo appearance for us in the screenplay and he's going to insist the studio allow us to act as extras. The latte better be there an hour before shooting and I'll need a body double for any nude scenes - I haven't been running enough lately. Been pavin' too many patios!
His agent finally read his screenplay and wrote "The first act, about 35 pages, is hilarious, in fact, I'd have to say outstanding. Good work..." He goes on to suggest the rest needs some work but then ends with "Anyway, if this is what you had for me months ago, it would have led me to sign you. I believe it can be successfully toned and then presented to the trade."
Well that's about all the news that is fit to print. The late night golf outing apparently has squandered the good will engendered by my providing material for his second screenplay - his wife is hinting that any Dublin Irishfest activity in August is now verboten. Oh where's the humanity? Bad, Bone, bad!
Nancy wrote asking why, in relation to the Christian Bookseller's Association, everything is a knock-off of popular culture. Christian hip-hop music, Christian alternative music, "the ya-ya sisterhood begets the yada-yada prayer group".
I think that Christians are on the defensive now and our faith is weak. The great works of Christendom came when everyone was Christian - not enough good writers and artists are Christian now to get the "synergy" going to create good art.
Kids grow up in nominally Christian homes, so they learn to like hip-hop & nihilistic music before their conversions. And they still like the music, post-conversion, if not the lyrics. Asking kids (or anyone) not to be conformists is asking a lot.
If serious Christianity became mainstream, we'd have more risk-takers, with better art as a byproduct.
I think that Christians are on the defensive now and our faith is weak. The great works of Christendom came when everyone was Christian - not enough good writers and artists are Christian now to get the "synergy" going to create good art.
Kids grow up in nominally Christian homes, so they learn to like hip-hop & nihilistic music before their conversions. And they still like the music, post-conversion, if not the lyrics. Asking kids (or anyone) not to be conformists is asking a lot.
If serious Christianity became mainstream, we'd have more risk-takers, with better art as a byproduct.
Amy is back from the surreal land of the Christian Bookseller's Association and all I got was this t-shirt reportage.
Apparition booklet: $4
Contemporary Christian music CD: $20
Getting your picture taken with Tammy Faye? PRICELESS!
Amy's a bad influence on me...I'm now wondering where the "celebrity kitsch" line is, such that pictures taken with them are taken as irony. Probably the cast of Gilligan's Island would qualify but not that of Little House on the Prarie. Eight is Enough but not the Brady Bunch. Your mileage may vary. Hal Lindsey was right on the kitsch buoy for me but blew it with the tropical shirt...a nice suit can put you above the line.
_ _ _
Amy also mentioned the unholy alliance between marketing and evangelization. I can see it now....(fade to dream sequence):
Stay tuned for FOX's newest reality television program - "Joe Christian"!
Joe is a born-again Christian who attempts to convert Wiccans. He will receive $5,000 per convertee...
Apparition booklet: $4
Contemporary Christian music CD: $20
Getting your picture taken with Tammy Faye? PRICELESS!
Amy's a bad influence on me...I'm now wondering where the "celebrity kitsch" line is, such that pictures taken with them are taken as irony. Probably the cast of Gilligan's Island would qualify but not that of Little House on the Prarie. Eight is Enough but not the Brady Bunch. Your mileage may vary. Hal Lindsey was right on the kitsch buoy for me but blew it with the tropical shirt...a nice suit can put you above the line.
_ _ _
Amy also mentioned the unholy alliance between marketing and evangelization. I can see it now....(fade to dream sequence):
Stay tuned for FOX's newest reality television program - "Joe Christian"!
Joe is a born-again Christian who attempts to convert Wiccans. He will receive $5,000 per convertee...
The Unbearable Beauty of Summer
Nancy cryptically writes, "Ah, summer. What will I do when the light leaves? (Answer: This year, reach for the medicine chest. 2002 -- never again.)"
Perhaps some Merlot in that medicine chest? Or a full spectrum lamp?
Every year about this time I succumb to great fatigue. I know because I checked my journal. "July 17, 2002: Unbelievably exhausted. Tired beyond belief..." Foolish, I know.
As one too susceptible to the sun's charms, I find it hard to sit still. Not when there's running, hiking, biking and home improvement projects to do. And the rest of the time I stare dumbly at my new paver patio and watch the grass grow around it. Heretofore I'd foolishly imagined watching the grass grow was a euphemism for boredom.
I'd re-graded the area around the patio and the piles of dirt made it look forlorn. I waited impatiently for the grass to grow and lo & behold each day it did: Thicker, lusher and more luxuriant, setting off the white of the patio like the green around an Ostian ruin. Is there a thing as too much beauty? It's nearly impossible to read out there without gazing at the fine Douglas Firs in the distance, birds posing as sentries on the tops, or watching the sheen of the grass at patio's edge.
And backyard home improvements beget more backyard home improvements. I remembered that concrete patch, the place where the previous owner had set a pole for a clothesline. Immediately I've got a small chisel & sledge hammer in hand and two hours later, sweat poring off, I've got a decent sized hole in which to plant....more grass.
Nancy cryptically writes, "Ah, summer. What will I do when the light leaves? (Answer: This year, reach for the medicine chest. 2002 -- never again.)"
Perhaps some Merlot in that medicine chest? Or a full spectrum lamp?
Every year about this time I succumb to great fatigue. I know because I checked my journal. "July 17, 2002: Unbelievably exhausted. Tired beyond belief..." Foolish, I know.
As one too susceptible to the sun's charms, I find it hard to sit still. Not when there's running, hiking, biking and home improvement projects to do. And the rest of the time I stare dumbly at my new paver patio and watch the grass grow around it. Heretofore I'd foolishly imagined watching the grass grow was a euphemism for boredom.
I'd re-graded the area around the patio and the piles of dirt made it look forlorn. I waited impatiently for the grass to grow and lo & behold each day it did: Thicker, lusher and more luxuriant, setting off the white of the patio like the green around an Ostian ruin. Is there a thing as too much beauty? It's nearly impossible to read out there without gazing at the fine Douglas Firs in the distance, birds posing as sentries on the tops, or watching the sheen of the grass at patio's edge.
And backyard home improvements beget more backyard home improvements. I remembered that concrete patch, the place where the previous owner had set a pole for a clothesline. Immediately I've got a small chisel & sledge hammer in hand and two hours later, sweat poring off, I've got a decent sized hole in which to plant....more grass.
Anti-Semitism & the NT
While I'm not sure it's kosher to refer to them as "kibitzers", this article does make a good point about the asininity of calls to re-write the New Testament.
Guns don't kill people, people do. Similarly, the gospels don't cause anti-Semitism, people with warped notions do.
Given that Jesus was a Jew, anti-Semitism among Christians should be an oxymoron. To the extent groups try to become defacto "thought police" they will not only fail, but will be counter-produtive because no one likes to be told what to think.
While I'm not sure it's kosher to refer to them as "kibitzers", this article does make a good point about the asininity of calls to re-write the New Testament.
Guns don't kill people, people do. Similarly, the gospels don't cause anti-Semitism, people with warped notions do.
Given that Jesus was a Jew, anti-Semitism among Christians should be an oxymoron. To the extent groups try to become defacto "thought police" they will not only fail, but will be counter-produtive because no one likes to be told what to think.
July 22, 2003
"My Understanding Will Be Forever Shaped..." - K. O'Beirne
On Mel Gibson's The Passion:
"Heartbreaking," Michael Novak told Gibson. "The Exorcist" author William Peter Blatty called the movie "a tremendous depiction of evil." MPAA President Valenti was perhaps the most enthusiastic. "I don't see what the controversy is all about," he told fellow audience members. "This is a compelling piece of art. I just called Kirk Douglas and told him that this is the movie to beat."
From Article in the Washington Post.
Kate O'Beirne weighs in on the film at The Corner:
The movie is intense and riveting, and the time quickly passes as you are completely drawn into the events in biblical Jerusalem. One can’t imagine grabbing a bucket of popcorn with a super-sized diet coke before settling down to witness this graphic depiction of Christ’s passion and crucifixion. My understanding of Christ’s ordeal will be forever shaped by this remarkable movie. Some will unfairly use Gibson’s labor of love to create a controversy, which is wholly unjustified in the case of this masterful film, but hopefully Gibson realizes that this too shall pass.
On Mel Gibson's The Passion:
"Heartbreaking," Michael Novak told Gibson. "The Exorcist" author William Peter Blatty called the movie "a tremendous depiction of evil." MPAA President Valenti was perhaps the most enthusiastic. "I don't see what the controversy is all about," he told fellow audience members. "This is a compelling piece of art. I just called Kirk Douglas and told him that this is the movie to beat."
From Article in the Washington Post.
Kate O'Beirne weighs in on the film at The Corner:
The movie is intense and riveting, and the time quickly passes as you are completely drawn into the events in biblical Jerusalem. One can’t imagine grabbing a bucket of popcorn with a super-sized diet coke before settling down to witness this graphic depiction of Christ’s passion and crucifixion. My understanding of Christ’s ordeal will be forever shaped by this remarkable movie. Some will unfairly use Gibson’s labor of love to create a controversy, which is wholly unjustified in the case of this masterful film, but hopefully Gibson realizes that this too shall pass.
Interesting excerpt from John O'Donohue's Anam Cara:
God is mysterious and reserved. Patience with this reserve is one of the profound recongitions of the Celtic mind. The world of the soul is secret. The secret and the sacred are sisters. When the secret is not respected, the sacred vanishes. Consequently, reflection should not shine too severe or aggressive a light in on the world of the soul.
There is an unprecedented spiritual hunger in our times. Yet one of the damaging aspects of this hunger is the way it sees everything in such a severe and insistent light. The light of modern consciousness is not gentle or reverent ; it lacks graciousness in the presence of mystery; it wants to unriddle and control the unknown. Modern consciousness is similar to the harsh and brilliant white light of a hospital operating theatre. It is not hospitable to what is reserved and hidden.
It is interesting that the world revelation comes from re-valere, literally 'to veil again'. The world of the soul is glimpsed through the opening of a veil that closes again. There is no direct, permanent or public access to the divine. When the spiritual search is too intense and hungry, the soul stays hidden.
Steven Riddle posts about "Just War" theory and wonders how objective or subjective it is. Clarity is often elusive. Our Dominican friar has said that Church doctrine is a fence on the far edge of the landscape pointing to cliffs that have already been discovered and we can enjoy the diversity of opinion in the field with a certain abandon. But having the freedom to believe wrong things seems a mixed bag.
For example, I'm suspicious when someone says "God told me to do..." XYZ. It is entirely possible that God did tell them to do XYZ, through an inspiration, a calling of the heart. Certainly those impulses to obey are most likely to be true if in line with Church teaching like, "volunteer at the local food bank".
But private revelation is not always reliable, even among saints. St. Vincent Ferrer felt that God told him that the coming of the Antichrist and the end of the world would come in his generation (the 15th century). He was still a saint, he just believed a wrong thing. For much of his life Pope John the 23rd believed and preached, heretically, that the dead would not see God until after the Last Judgement. Trust in the Church seems to be the best possibility that what we believe is true.
So what about the "Just War" theory? I don't know, other than it's not prudent to abandon it until the Church does, and the Church has not. The Pope seems to have an intuition towards pacifism...he may be a saint but that doesn't mean what he feels God is telling him is correct.
For example, I'm suspicious when someone says "God told me to do..." XYZ. It is entirely possible that God did tell them to do XYZ, through an inspiration, a calling of the heart. Certainly those impulses to obey are most likely to be true if in line with Church teaching like, "volunteer at the local food bank".
But private revelation is not always reliable, even among saints. St. Vincent Ferrer felt that God told him that the coming of the Antichrist and the end of the world would come in his generation (the 15th century). He was still a saint, he just believed a wrong thing. For much of his life Pope John the 23rd believed and preached, heretically, that the dead would not see God until after the Last Judgement. Trust in the Church seems to be the best possibility that what we believe is true.
So what about the "Just War" theory? I don't know, other than it's not prudent to abandon it until the Church does, and the Church has not. The Pope seems to have an intuition towards pacifism...he may be a saint but that doesn't mean what he feels God is telling him is correct.
President Bush's poll numbers are in a free-fall, no doubt due to the mess of post-Iraq. Americans want their casualties all together, not spaced out in ones and twos over a period of months. And the enemy knows that and will use it. Our troops are targets for terrorist attacks and it appears that we simply don't have a military solution to terrorism. Israel, with her strong military, has tried to find a military solution and failed. It's hard not to fault George Bush for not seeing this coming or at least warning us this was going to happen. (Andrew Sullivan says we shouldn't be surprised).
The former Soviet Union didn't have a terrorist problem because they didn't play by the rules. They were ruthlessless and invoked fear the way pitcher Ryne Duren used to invoke fear in batters because he was near-sighted and he didn't always know where his 95mph fastball was heading. The U.S. telegraphs her moves via CNN, gives ample warning, eschews assassinations, minimizes enemy casualties and is no Ryne Duren. This is a great and wonderful thing. But it also means we will have to adjust our policies accordingly, understanding are capabilities.
Bottom line, it will be surprising if we can change the hearts and minds of potential terrorists. We are at the beginning of this experiment pitting the realists versus the neo-conservatives. I think we had the right to go into Iraq given Saddam's failure to comply with the conditions ending the first Gulf war, but that doesn't mean it was the prudent thing to do. The jury's still out.
The former Soviet Union didn't have a terrorist problem because they didn't play by the rules. They were ruthlessless and invoked fear the way pitcher Ryne Duren used to invoke fear in batters because he was near-sighted and he didn't always know where his 95mph fastball was heading. The U.S. telegraphs her moves via CNN, gives ample warning, eschews assassinations, minimizes enemy casualties and is no Ryne Duren. This is a great and wonderful thing. But it also means we will have to adjust our policies accordingly, understanding are capabilities.
Bottom line, it will be surprising if we can change the hearts and minds of potential terrorists. We are at the beginning of this experiment pitting the realists versus the neo-conservatives. I think we had the right to go into Iraq given Saddam's failure to comply with the conditions ending the first Gulf war, but that doesn't mean it was the prudent thing to do. The jury's still out.
July 21, 2003
Mr. Dreher
But the desire to go out had almost vanished since the day I met Julie in an Austin bookstore. I'd assumed I'd want to get in as much carousing as possible before I was lashed to hearth and home. But I was wrong...
Rod Dreher talks about his taming.
But the desire to go out had almost vanished since the day I met Julie in an Austin bookstore. I'd assumed I'd want to get in as much carousing as possible before I was lashed to hearth and home. But I was wrong...
Rod Dreher talks about his taming.
I like the sense of strangeness in poetry...In country music this is now the exception given how banality rules (during the '90s country music became surbanized and sanitized and feminized). Sure it's not Milton or Shakespeare, but here's a snippet from “Almost Home” by Craig Morton:
Then he said,"I was comin' round the barn"
Bout the time he grabbed my arm
When I heard Momma holler son hurry up
I was close enough for my own nose
To smell fresh cobbler on the stove
When I saw daddy loadin' up the truck
Game poles on the tailgate
Barbers blowin' in the wind
Since July of '55
That's as close as I've been. -“Almost Home” – Craig Morton
Then he said,"I was comin' round the barn"
Bout the time he grabbed my arm
When I heard Momma holler son hurry up
I was close enough for my own nose
To smell fresh cobbler on the stove
When I saw daddy loadin' up the truck
Game poles on the tailgate
Barbers blowin' in the wind
Since July of '55
That's as close as I've been. -“Almost Home” – Craig Morton
Silly Stuff... a grab bag of disconnected thoughts
Received spam entitled "You Don't IM me anymore", which I guess is this generation's You Don't Bring Me Flowers.
*
Preoccupation (to tune of ‘Anticipation’)
We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway, yay
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasin' after some future day
Ref: Preoccupation, Preoccupation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waitin'...
*
Romantic or Not?
Wonder how Annie Denver took it that loving her was a difficult matter.... The first two lines of John Denver's Follow Me:
It's by far the hardest thing I've ever done /
To be so in love with you so long
Chesterton wrote that for a thing to be entirely romantic it must be irrevocable... Love as an act of the will sounds much more romantic in the marriage vows:
For better or worse, richer for poorer till death due us part
*
Hiking in the woods Saturday, I notice leaves beneath the canopy flat as patens, seeking stray rays of the dappled sun.
Received spam entitled "You Don't IM me anymore", which I guess is this generation's You Don't Bring Me Flowers.
*
Preoccupation (to tune of ‘Anticipation’)
We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway, yay
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasin' after some future day
Ref: Preoccupation, Preoccupation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waitin'...
*
Romantic or Not?
Wonder how Annie Denver took it that loving her was a difficult matter.... The first two lines of John Denver's Follow Me:
It's by far the hardest thing I've ever done /
To be so in love with you so long
Chesterton wrote that for a thing to be entirely romantic it must be irrevocable... Love as an act of the will sounds much more romantic in the marriage vows:
For better or worse, richer for poorer till death due us part
*
Hiking in the woods Saturday, I notice leaves beneath the canopy flat as patens, seeking stray rays of the dappled sun.
July 20, 2003
Prayer and Writing
Karen Hall of Disordered Affections fame urges we write about what we feel passionate about. Writing with passion removes self-consciousness, makes you forget the very act of writing. The words tumble out in forgetfulness like an orgasm makes you forget the physical act of sex.
I was reading a passage from Spiritual Combat Revisited and the author mentioned that if you are aware of the act of praying then you are essentially not praying because you are not focused on or conscious of God. The truth of Christ's words, "do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing" marvelously encapsulates this truth.
Karen Hall of Disordered Affections fame urges we write about what we feel passionate about. Writing with passion removes self-consciousness, makes you forget the very act of writing. The words tumble out in forgetfulness like an orgasm makes you forget the physical act of sex.
I was reading a passage from Spiritual Combat Revisited and the author mentioned that if you are aware of the act of praying then you are essentially not praying because you are not focused on or conscious of God. The truth of Christ's words, "do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing" marvelously encapsulates this truth.
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